I took four shots. All the same. I'll set up the tripod and do some ruler testing, though, just to make sure.

In your example, the chair seems to be in focus. Are you sure that you didn't have all the AF points on and the camera grabbed the chair because of the high contrast there. Put the camera in Single-Shot mode and either select your AF point or use the single-point center and put it right on a subject that you want in focus.

The 7D's AF scheme is very flexible, but you have to be aware of what's going on. Set the AF point to show in the viewfinder and watch which ones light up. Learn to hit the switch on the far right with your thumb and then toggle through the AF modes with the switch in front of the shutter release. You can even have all of the AF points active, but select the one that you want in the viewfinder, using the thumb pointer (whatever it's called) on the back, above the wheel.

Firstly, it's about time for some spring cleaning. You're lucky you have cats, because if you had dogs, they would probably be marking all your books on the floor (and possibly tasting them too)

Secondly, I agree with Dave that you should use spot focusing in this example. MFA might be needed, but the key word is micro. If you're focus plane is 2' in front, that's not a micro adjustment you'll need to make, so I feel like something else is going on here.

In your example, the chair seems to be in focus. Are you sure that you didn't have all the AF points on and the camera grabbed the chair because of the high contrast there. Put the camera in Single-Shot mode and either select your AF point or use the single-point center and put it right on a subject that you want in focus.

The 7D's AF scheme is very flexible, but you have to be aware of what's going on. Set the AF point to show in the viewfinder and watch which ones light up. Learn to hit the switch on the far right with your thumb and then toggle through the AF modes with the switch in front of the shutter release. You can even have all of the AF points active, but select the one that you want in the viewfinder, using the thumb pointer (whatever it's called) on the back, above the wheel.

I see you like to read.

Dave

Wifey likes to read. Those are the "to-be-shelved" books. Her collection is currently north of 11,000 books.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chewy734

Mark,

Firstly, it's about time for some spring cleaning. You're lucky you have cats, because if you had dogs, they would probably be marking all your books on the floor (and possibly tasting them too)

Secondly, I agree with Dave that you should use spot focusing in this example. MFA might be needed, but the key word is micro. If you're focus plane is 2' in front, that's not a micro adjustment you'll need to make, so I feel like something else is going on here.

Funny you should say that because one of our male cats piddled right on one of Wifey's bookcases right in front of her. I thought she was going to kill him. Not sure what that stupid cat's problem is, but he's living dangerously when he pulls stunts like that.

As for the pic, I only shoot with the center focus point active (which makes me wonder why I was amped to get the 19 AF points in the first place) and it was right on the cat's face. Single-Shot mode.

Wifey likes to read. Those are the "to-be-shelved" books. Her collection is currently north of 11,000 books.

As for the pic, I only shoot with the center focus point active (which makes me wonder why I was amped to get the 19 AF points in the first place) and it was right on the cat's face. Single-Shot mode.

there was an episode of Hoarders where the 2 people in the house were obsessed with books

one thing to point out with the 50 1.4, digital cameras are optimized for a minimum of F2.8, so what you might be experiencing is the camera fighting with the lens. Try shooting at F2.8 with the lens and your accuracy will go up and might be more telling if there is a problem or not.

I never mentioned single point, I always just assumed pretty much all of us shoot that way default.

I'm thinking about going SSD for my Lightroom work (Hosting catalog and raw files). I'm looking to shorter save time and a quicker display of the 1:1 previews.

Is anybody working with a SSD; photography-wise? Mind sharing the Pros and Cons?

I recently started in a laptop.

Con in my opinion is price and available sizes. Mind you, if you get some good work flow going and you upload images, work on them, and then move them to another storage space when finished, size won't really be a factor.

But in all reality, you have to pay to play, so price isn't really a con, just a by-product.

there was an episode of Hoarders where the 2 people in the house were obsessed with books

one thing to point out with the 50 1.4, digital cameras are optimized for a minimum of F2.8, so what you might be experiencing is the camera fighting with the lens. Try shooting at F2.8 with the lens and your accuracy will go up and might be more telling if there is a problem or not.

I never mentioned single point, I always just assumed pretty much all of us shoot that way default.

I shouldn't assume, but I do.

No, but Dave mentioned it. And I think with the low light if I had gone to 2.8, I would have missed the shot. As it was I was at 1600ISO and barely at 1/FL.

I first thought of SSD as a permanent solution for picture backups, but the limited size and price makes it impossible under a wide load of cash and drives. I'm pretty sure my actual backup workflow could be better tho.

I'm currently stocking them all on external 1TB Seagate drive; with double backups on DVDs. But I'm affraid of the long term viability of DVDs; even when stocked properly. I really want this kind of "hard" backup because a HDD can fail anyday.

What could I do to improve the reliability of my backups here other then buying a raid of SSD?

I have enough of my computers grinding my gears when it comes to Post Process. (I got a P4 3.0ghz desktop and a c2d 2.0ghz laptop; both over 5 years old) So i've decided to make an investment and changing the whole rig for a quality desktop dedicated to Postprocess. I have a warm feeling about the Mac's 27inch display which has an amazing resolution. But this is pretty much the only reason pushing me into mac. I will try to find a display with the same kind of resolution for PCs but if not, I will probably switch to Mac. But i'm sure there's some eye candy out there for PC users.

I have enough of my computers grinding my gears when it comes to Post Process. (I got a P4 3.0ghz desktop and a c2d 2.0ghz laptop; both over 5 years old) So i've decided to make an investment and changing the whole rig for a quality desktop dedicated to Postprocess.

Don't RAID SSDs, it'll be a waste of money, unless you have lots you want spend on it. Here are my recommendations:

1. If you want a laptop, buy a 512gb Crucial M4 SSD card to put in it. Then, you can buy a NAS (I can recommend a few depending on your budget) and have a RAID 5 or RAID 6 set that does all your backups.

2. If you want a desktop, a PC or a Mac will be fine. I've been using Macs for over 20 years, so I'm partial to them. However, I've sold many custom PC workstations to other photogs who have been satisfied. With a desktop you can do internal RAID 5 or RAID 6, depending on your budget, and it'll be pretty fast (definitely much faster than your current setup). You don't have to worry about the monitors on a PC, because Apple's monitors, while good, are overpriced.

If you want a quote from me (rather my company) on the best system I can get you (either Mac/PC/laptop), let me know what you want to run (Windows 7 or Mac OS), how much space you think you'll need, what size monitor(s) you want, and what your budget is... feel free to PM me.

I never mentioned single point, I always just assumed pretty much all of us shoot that way default.

I shouldn't assume, but I do.

Did it give you a confirmation beep?

I shoot in way lower light than that with f/4 lenses and don't have misses that are that bad (usually anyway). This looks like way more than precision focus tuning. There's enough contrast on that cat that it should have easily locked on.

Don't RAID SSDs, it'll be a waste of money, unless you have lots you want spend on it. Here are my recommendations:

1. If you want a laptop, buy a 512gb Crucial M4 SSD card to put in it. Then, you can buy a NAS (I can recommend a few depending on your budget) and have a RAID 5 or RAID 6 set that does all your backups.

2. If you want a desktop, a PC or a Mac will be fine. I've been using Macs for over 20 years, so I'm partial to them. However, I've sold many custom PC workstations to other photogs who have been satisfied. With a desktop you can do internal RAID 5 or RAID 6, depending on your budget, and it'll be pretty fast (definitely much faster than your current setup). You don't have to worry about the monitors on a PC, because Apple's monitors, while good, are overpriced.

If you want a quote from me (rather my company) on the best system I can get you (either Mac/PC/laptop), let me know what you want to run (Windows 7 or Mac OS), how much space you think you'll need, what size monitor(s) you want, and what your budget is... feel free to PM me.

Agreed about RAID, but you do need off-site storage if you really value your images. I have two, two-TB LaCie drives, one at home and one at work. I mirror them monthly. I also keep the current month's images on my Lenovo PC's HD until I've completed the mirror backup.

Cloud backup is now getting practical when dealing with GB, but I'm not sure about doing it with TB from a cost perspective (rent vs. buy). If you get a TB HD, be sure to get USB 3.0 or the Apple high-speed equivalent. Before USB 3 I used Firewire with decent results. USB 2.0 SUCKS for imaging with big files. That's ok for P&S files only.

I shoot in way lower light than that with f/4 lenses and don't have misses that are that bad (usually anyway). This looks like way more than precision focus tuning. There's enough contrast on that cat that it should have easily locked on.

Dave

Yes, it beeped. Mine is set to not take the shot if it doesn't. If the whole shot was OOF, I'd chalk it up to a missed focus. It happens. But four shots came out exactly the same. Cat OOF and chair sharp. I've read reviews where a lens can be sharper on the left than the right (and vice-versa). I'm wondering if this is a problem with the 50mm I have. My shots with the 24-105 are critically sharp at dead center even at 100%. Even the 35mm does well at 100%. I bought the 50mm used, so it could have some issues. I'll have to do some ruler testing with a tripod and see if it needs to be sent in for calibration.